Men's Volleyball closes out Showdown in the Woods

(St. Mary-Of-The-Woods, IN) - The Rochester Christian men's volleyball continued its weekend at the Showdown in the Woods at St. Mary of the Woods College. The Warriors would take on a team from out west in Park-Gilbert (AZ) and a team from the south in Kentucky State. 

GAME 1 - PARK-GILBERT 3, RCU 0

The first set of the day for the Warriors saw them jump out to a 4-1 lead with the aid of a Jonathan Chow service ace. The two teams continued the back-and-forth play with neither team gaining more than a four-point lead. Bao Nguyen and Xander Slate would aid the Warriors in the set, earning a couple of kills, but a 4-1 run by the Buccaneers would end the set.

Another tight set saw neither team lead by more than four points throughout. Three of the first four RCU points in the set would come from Xander Slate. Throughout the set Bao Nugyen and Jonathan Chow would get in on the scoring, as RCU built up to a 23-19 lead, before the Bucaneers were able to tie it at 23. Both RCU and PGU would see three different match point opportunities, but Park-Gilbert was able to finally score the final two points to win the set 33-31. 

Xander Slate would once again get the first kill of the set for RCU, with Park-Gilbert gaining control of the set early on. PGU was able to get out to a 16-8 lead in the set before the Warrior comeback. Taking advantage of multiple Bucaneer errors, RCU got points from Slate, Claudio Arato, and Bao Nguyen in order to make their way back to a 24-23 lead. The Bucaneers though were able to hold off the Warriors grabbing five of the final seven points. 

GAME 2 - KENTUCKY STATE 3, RCU 0

A tight start to the set saw Xander Slate continue his solid momentum from the Park-Gilbert game with three kills on the way to the early 7-7 tie. The Thorobreds picked up 14 of the next 20 points on their way to the set win. 

RCU would start the second set, up 4-1 with Claudio Arato earning both a kill and an assist. KSU, though, was able to pull ahead in the set after scoring 12 of the next 16 points. Xander Slate, Jailen Tatum, and Bao Nguyen each got kills throughout the set, while Nehemiah Rosillo earned an ace, before Kentucky State closed out the set. 

The final set of the weekend saw a back-and-forth battle between the two teams, as neither team had more than a three-point lead, until KSU pulled ahead 24-19. Jonathan Chow was able to get in on the scoring with a kill, as well as continuing to lead the team in assists. RCU got to within 24-21 late in the set before KSU was able to finish off the Warriors.

TOP PERFORMERS

Xander Salte led the attack on the day for RCU with a team-leading 16 kills, with Bao Nguyen and Claudio Arato following up with 13 and 12, respectively. Jonathan Chow recorded 47 assists across the two games. 

Nehemiah Rosillo recorded a team-high 17 digs in the game with Jonathan Chow and Claudio Arato following with 16 and 15 digs, respectively. Chow would lead the team in blocks with four total. 

UP NEXT

The Warriors will begin conference play on Tuesday, February 3 when they head to Aquinas College for a match at 7 PM.